Portrait and biographical album of Lancaster county, Nebraska, Part 78

Author:
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman brothers
Number of Pages: 812

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of W. J. Featherston, of Red Wing. Minn .; Maz- zini, of Dakota; and Lucius, also of Dakota. The parents of our subject are both deceased. The mother died in Minnesota, and the father in this county.

Our subject remained at home with his parents until twenty-two years of age, receiving a sound education in the public schools, and assisting his father on the farm, whereby he gained a thorough, practical knowledge of agrienlture. At the age just mentioned he started out in the world to seek his fortunes, and we next hear of him at Grand Rapids, Mich., where he was employed on a farm one sum- mer. Ile then went to Minnesota to invest in land, and at Red Wing bought a farm, on which he lived until 1862. In that year he returned to his native State, and resided there the two succeeding years, and at the end of that time he again went to Min- nesota, where he was prosperously engaged in farm- ing until 1873, when he was tempted to come to Nebraska by the many favorable reports that he had heard concerning its fine climate and many and varied resources, making it especially the para- dise of the farmer. Accordingly he took up a claim in Hall County, under the provisions of the Home- stead Act, and was busily engaged in agricultural pursuits there for six years. He then came to Lan- caster County, and bought a farm of eighty acres, finely located five miles from Lincoln, and two years later sold his HIall County farm. His present farm comprises seventy-five acres of land, whose rich, loamy soil is especially adapted to the cultiva- tion of fruit, of which, we have before mentioned, he makes a specialty, and in which he has met with marked success. IIe does not, however, neglect other branches of agriculture, but has his farm well supplied with stock of good grades, and he also raises considerable grain. He has a beautiful home, and the fine lawu surrounding it is adorned with trees planted by his own hand, as will be seen on reference to the view the lithographie art- ist enables us to supply, and which so clearly brings to the mental retina the scene as it is. Merely ver- bal description is helplessly faulty.

Our subject was married, in 1868, to Miss Clara J. Watson, daughter of John Watson, Jr., and his wife, Fanny Pettinger, both natives of England.

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He was born in 1821, and his wife in 1823. They were married in their native country and started for America on their wedding day. They reared a family of eleven children, six sons and five daugh- ters, nine of whom are now living, as follows: Eli- jah P. is a harness-maker, of Morris, Minn .; Charles Herbert lives at Northville, Minn .; Clara J., the wife of our subject; Amy, wife of Charles Feather- ston, of Red Wing, Minn .; David W., a harness- maker of Red Wing ; Phoebe, wife of Frank Sherpy, of Northfield, Minn. ; Fred J., of Marshall, Minn., is a liveryman ; Froom T. is a book-keeper for a lum- berman in River Falls, Wis .; Clemmie, wife of David Richardson, of Northfield, Minn., who is a furniture dealer. Mr. Watson was a second time married, and has reared a family by his last wife. Mrs. Leavitt was born Nov. 27, 1847, in Sarnia, Canada, near Lake St. Clair, and was married in Red Wing, Nov. 26, 1868. She and her husband, having no children of their own, have taken to their home and hearts two children, whom they are providing for as if they were their very own; the girl, Emmeline A., born Nov. 30. 1872, has been under their loving care for twelve years. The boy, Albert, they took in infancy ; he was born Dec. 10, 1885.

Our subject and his wife are noble-minded, whole-souled people, whose generosity and kind- ness are unexceeded, and they are powers for much good in this community. They are both active, working members of the Christian Church at Lin- coln, of which he has been a Deacon for some time, and, both while living in Hall County and here, Sunday-school Superintendent. Mr. Leavitt is a stanch temperance man, and is prominently identi- fied with the Prohibition party of Lancaster County.

1 N. LEONARD, who is prominently identified with the farming and stock-growing interests of Lancaster County, is proprietor of one of the finest estates in the county, which is pleasantly located on section 20, Oak Precinct. A native of Delaware County, Ohio, he was born Nov. 15, 1838, to Joseph and Nancy (Longwell) Leonard, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and Kentucky. The

paternal ancestors were from Holland, but the mother was of Scotch descent. Both branches of the family settled in America prior to the Revolu- tionary War.

The father of our subject was extensively en- gaged in agricultural pursuits, being one of the prominent stock-growers of Delaware County, Ohio. He was a man of solid worth, possessing the true Christian character, and a member of the Presby- terian Church. He died in September, 1867, aged sixty years, lamented in the community where for so many years he had been an honored citizen. His wife, the mother of our subject, had died in October, 1848.

The early life of I. N. Leonard was passed in the manner usual to farmers' sons, attending school as opportunity afforded, and assisting his father in the farm work and cattle business. He had scarcely attained manhood when the war broke out. He had been watching with intense and intelligent interest the course of public events, that culminated in that terrible struggle, and soon enrolled his name with the other brave defenders of his country. In the tragic years which followed he engaged in many a hard-fought battle and gained an honorable record for heroism and valor. Enlisting in Company B, 9th Indiana Infantry, as a private, Aug. 14, 1861, he served faithfully until after the close of the war, receiving his discharge from the army Sept. 28, 1865. Ilis efficiency in field and camp soon brought him to the notice of his superior officers, and he re- ceived deserved promotion to the rank of First Lientenant. On the 4th of July, 1864, he was severely wounded by a musket ball, while taking an active part in the engagement near Marietta, in Georgia.

Mr. Leonard was mustered into service at Camp Colfax, Angust 27, and was rushed to the front in West Virginia, where he took part in the battle of Greenbrier, October 3. On January 13 following he was at Buffalo Mountain; later he was transferred with his regiment to the Army of the Ohio, under Buell. At Nashville they marched across Tennessee, and on the second day took part in the battle of Shiloh. Mr. Leonard was at Corinth and in the famous retreat to Louisville, Ky .. taking part in the battles of Perryville and Danville. He fought

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valiantly at Stone River and Chickamauga, and at the battle of Chattanooga was in command of a com- pany at the storming of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, also at Ringgold, Ga. Ile was an officer in the Atlanta campaign until July 4, 1864, when he was disabled by a gunshot wound and was sent home for a furlough of 100 days. At the end of his leave of absence he was seareely able to return, but his indomitable spirit would not brook the thought of being away from his duty, and he returned to the army on crutches. Ile was then assigned aid-de-camp on the staff of Brevet Major General Charles Cruff, which position he held until the close of the war.

Upon his final discharge from the service, Sept. 28, 1865, at Camp Stanley, Tex., Lieut. Leonard proceeded to Indianapolis, where the regiment was disbanded. He reached home in the early. part of October, at 2 A. M., slept until 6 A. M., then re- sumed citizens' clothes and went vigorously to work. He has done a good day's work each day since, and by industry, self-denial and economy has at- tained success. He came to Nebraska in 1870 with $1,500 in his pocket, which by judicious investments and wise management of his business affairs, he has increased to a property worth $25,000, being now numbered among the wealthy and substantial citi- zens of the county, which has been developed by his aid.

Mr. Leonard upon coming to this section of country, first took up a homestead claim and erected a tiny shelter, ten feet six inches square, in which he lived eight months. Then selling his land he bouglit another tract within six miles of Lincoln. Here he improved a farm from the wild prairie, having it now under fine culture. He has erected a comfortable and commodious residence at a cost of $2,500, and two fine barns, one for cattle and the other for horses, each worth $600. He has a large corn-crib with a capacity of 3,000 bushels, and his small grain is stored in a structure which will con- tain 1,000. The premises are not only among the finest in the precinct, but also in the county. Half of the farm is enclosed with a honey-locust fence and the balance with wire fencing. There is a fine grove of ash, box-elder, walnut, cottonwood, etc., planted by the hand of the proprietor, and so rapid

has been the growth of these trees that they would make logs from which might be chopped wood by the hundred cord.

Mr. Leonard commenced to raise high-grade stock in 1876, and has so greatly extended liis business, that of horses he owns some of the finest trotters in this region. His thoroughbred stallion, H. Z. Leonard, is famous throughout the county, and has a trotting record of 2:353. This animal is a beauti- ful dark bay with dark points, is sixteen and one- half hands high, and weighs at his best 1,260 lbs. He is of the Duboise Hambletonian Prince strain, by Administrator, son of Rysdyck's Hambletonian, that great sire of trotters, son of Abdallah, who was in turn grandson of the famous Messenger. an En- glish thoroughbred, imported into this country about 1790. The dam of II. Z. Leonard was Leonard Maid, bred in this county, sired by New York Boy, the latter bred near Greenwich, Wash- ington Co., N. Y. The cattle of Mr. Leonard em- braces a herd of high-bred Jerseys and Short-horns, about forty head in all. Notable among these is Leonard's Duke of Ashibrook and the Jersey Romeo, No. 2.

To the amiable and cultured woman who makes his home pleasant and attractive to her family and their host of friends, our subject was united in mar- riage April 3, 1873. ITer maiden name was Ange- line James. She is the daughter of John W. and Sarah J. (Sutton) James, who were both natives of Indiana. Thence they removed with their parents to Poweshiek County, Iowa, at the ages of thirteen and nine respectively. There they were reared, educated, and married in 1855, afterward settling upon a farm. In 1870 they sold their possessions in Iowa, came to Nebraska, and finally settled near Syracuse, Otoe County. Mr. James purchased a farm and there they still reside.

The James family from whom Mrs. Leonard is descended is included in a long line of English ancestry. The progenitor of the American branch was a son of wealthy and prominent parents. When about sixteen years old he became a student at Ox- ford, that celebrated seat of English learning, and while taking a morning walk on the banks of the River Thames, he was surprised by seamen, a cloak thrown over his head, and he was carried to a ship

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in waiting. He was thus impressed as a sailor, an occurrence frequent in those times. He subse- quently made bis escape at an carly period in the settlement of this country from the sailing-vessel at Philadelphia, Pa. IIc finally settled in Pennsyl- vania, and some of his descendants were pioneers of Kentucky. One Barney James, the great-uncle of Mrs. Leonard, was killed by an Indian who wanted his long black hair, he wearing it then in the fashion of a "queue." The Indian fortunately did not scalp him, as he became frightened by the approach of the whites. Thomas James, the paternal grand- father of Mrs. Leonard, is still living, a resident of Poweshiek County, Iowa, and a minister of the United Brethren Church. Although having arrived at the advanced age of eighty-three years, yet his hair is plentiful and black as a raven. In early manhood he married Melvina Moore, and they had a family of eight children. Grandmother James died in 1868.

Mrs. Leonard was born near Montezuma, Iowa, Dec. 21, 1857. Of her marriage with our subject four children have been born-Ella, Eva, Sherman and John. Mr. Leonard intends giving his children the benefits of a thorough classical education. There are few men more widely known and re- spected in business and social circles throughout Lancaster County than I. N. Leonard. He is the soul of honor, just and kindly in his relations with all. A man of vigorous thought and action, his broad and liberal mind keeps pace with the progres- sive spirit animating the nineteenth century. In politics he is a Prohibitionist, and he is also a strong Woman Suffragist. The Masonic fraternity holds him as one of its leading members, and he has offici- ated as Secretary of his lodge for some years.

ILLIAM C. OLNEY. The name Wash- ington is borne by between 300 and 400 townships, counties, cities, villages, etc., in the United States, but far from the least worthy of mention of this large number is Washington County, Ohio, which is situated in the southeastern part of the State, on the Virginian border, and which has for its county seat Marietta, the beautiful

city of Marietta, of national renown as a seat of learning. The landscape of this county is hardly to be equaled and never surpassed by any other in the same State. Its hills, covered with verdure of deepest green, its deep, shady glens, broad, fertile valleys, and noble forests, where the ash, hickory, oak and maple flourish in all their strength and beauty.

In the above county was born the subject of this sketch, Nov. 9, 1821, and is the son of Washing- ton and Apphia (Cable) Olney, and the position to which our subject has attained by his persistency and perseverance in answer to the inspiring voice of his ambition, while it could not have been fore- seen, is, nevertheless, verified and worthy the owner of so honored a patrony mic. Our subject is now a prominent farmer and stock-raiser of Denton Pre- cinct, where he has raised in the appreciation and esteem of his fellow-citizens a monument in his character and life more lasting than iron, more glit- tering than polished marble.

Mrs. Olney, the mother of our subject, is a near relative of President Cable, of the Rock Island Railroad system, and was born on July 20, 1797, at North Adams, Mass. Her husband, Washington Olney, was a native of Washington County, Ohio. Ilis paternal ancestry were members of the English aristocratic family of the same name, one which is inscribed indelibly on the page of her national his- tory. The branch of the family to which he be- longed emigrated to America about the close of the seventeenth century, probably about the year 1635, and settled in Rhode Island. The grandfather of our subject was Maj. Coggeshall Olney, a soldier in the Revolutionary War, where he made his mark . as a military man. He was one of the early mem- bers of the Society of Cincinnati, his certificate of membership being in the hands of our subject. One of the principal points of interest of this document is that it has the signature of Gen. Washington, then President of the society, also that of the renowned John Knox, Secretary of the society at the same time, besides several other contemporary officers of Revolutionary fame. Washington Olney, the father of our subject, was a soldier in the War of 1812, where, by his gallantry, he added fresh laurels to the family name. Our subject is the possessor of

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three commissions granted him, the first creating him Sergeant, the second promoting him First Lieu- tenant, the third advancing him to the rank of Cap- tain, with charge of his company.

The grandfather of our subject was one of the primitive settlers of Ohio, where he was deeply in- terested as a pioneer and citizen in its development. He was one of the chief members of the Renown Ohio Company, a corporation which held large sums of continental money for the purpose of purchasing and improving land in that State. Our subject was reared in his native county and received his educa- tion in its common schools, then in the earliest day of their formation and establishment. The dark shadow of death beclouded the life of our subject at a very early age. When he was four years old his father was removed from him by death; his mother's death occurred in the year 1852. His brother, George W., older than he, a student at Lane Seminary, where he had gone to prepare for ministerial labor, died before completing his course. The mother took up the burdens of the family with womanly spirit and heroism, and, nothing daunted by her loneliness and widowhood, proceeded to carry out the plans which with her husband she had formed in the interest of their sons. Our subject learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, and followed the same until about the time of his mother's death, and had then for a considerable period been fore- man of the shop of Putnam, Sons & Co., of Mari- etta, Ohio, manufacturers of woodenware. From the year 1852 until his entrance into Nebraska he was engaged in mechanical pursuits in different parts, being unusually skilled as a mechanic and execed- ingly facile in the use of tools of every description.

It is not always those who are in the front of the line in the various engagements and undertakings of life, and whose names are the best known, who are the real operators and deserving of honorable mention. The wives and mothers are rarely noticed, and, until recent years, were never thought of as important factors in the history building of the na- tion, although this is now an accepted fact, and in- disputable. The never-to-be-forgotten utterance of the great Napoleon is true in its every letter, and we doubt if the American Republic would stand with its crown of glory to-day, the desire of the na-

tions of the earth, but for the wise mothers and sis- ters of the brave New Englanders of 1776. We say, therefore, with the most wise king, "He that desireth a wife, desireth a good thing." Our sub- ject proved himself to be of similar mind to Solo- mon, when, on the 22d of September, 1852, he be- came the husband of Hattie Morris, a union most happy. This lady is a native of Washington County, Ohio, where she was born Dec. 3, 1828. Her parents were Joseph and Mary Morris, natives of New Jersey and New York respectively. Her parents in both instances were of Scotch-English origin, and among the earliest pioneers of Washing- ton County, having settled there in the seventh year of this century. He lived to the advanced age of ninety-two, and the mother sixty-six years. Ile was born March 9, 1771, and died May 3, 1861; his wife, born Feb. 17, 1792, died March 29, 1858.

Mr. and Mrs. Olney are the parents of one son, Joseph W., who has already shown himself worthy the family cognomen. He received a good educa- tion, and upon graduation began to read law, and was admitted to the bar in Washington County, April 17, 1879, and was appointed Notary Public by Gov. R. B. Hayes, of Ohio, in February, 1877.

The father of Mrs. Olney has been twice married, and had a family of seven children, only three of whom are living-Mrs. Olney and her two brothers, Joseph and William P. The mother of Mrs. Olney was born in Utica, N. Y., and was the daughter of John and Betsy Sweet. There are many physicians who object to surgical work, chiefly because they have no inclination for it, and in spite of their training are not experts, even in the matter of re- setting a fractured limb or reducing a dislocation. There are on the other hand many outside the med- ical profession who seem to possess a special faculty or knack for such work without any professional training, although we would not say without being somewhat proficient in their knowledge of super- ficial anatomy. The Sweet family have been for several generations noted as members of this class of surgeons, although many have supplemented their natural aptitude by college education, and graduated as physicians and surgeons.

In the summer of 1885 our subject removed from Ohio with his family to this county and took up his

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residence for a time at Lincoln, working at his trade, and in the spring of the following year he settled upon his farm, which is supplemented by 240 acres of land owned by Mrs. Olney. Both our subject and his wife are identified with the Congregational Church, and are among its liberal supporters. Dur- ing the war our subject was in a branch of the serv- ice which is little thought of and usually under- valued. Very often the movements of the armed men would be gigantic blunders and disastrous mistakes but for the information received over the telegraph wire. We claim then for the telegraphic department, in which our subject served, as honor- able mention as that given to the actual fighting men. While serving in this department, under Capt. Fuller, our subject was taken prisoner by John Morgan, and was one of the first taken from the men of Washington County. He was lodged in Nashville jail, and there remained until the Union forces took the city, when he returned to his old duty.

Mr. Olney is loyally interested as a citizen in questions concerning the Republic and its Govern- ment, although not an office-holder. He is a rec- ognized friend of the "grand old party" and an enthusiastic supporter of the same. In every rela- tion of life he has proved himself honorable, con- scientious, and true to the dictates of highest man- hood, and both in Ohio and at his present home enjoys that confidence and regard which are accorded to good and true citizens throughout our land.

ILLIAM STOCKING, a very enterprising farmer, has one of the most valuable 80-acre farms in Nemaha, located on sec- tion 28, one of the most beautiful sites in Lan- caster County. lle comes of fine old Massachu- setts stock, his parents, Abner and Gratia (Porter) Stocking, being of an ancestry that settled in the town of Ashfield, among the beautiful hills of Franklin County, that State. They each removed from that pretty New England town in their youth, and were married in Ohio, where Mr. Stocking en- gaged in farming until his death at the age of forty-five, in the midst of a prosperous career. Ile was an active, wide-awake man, of sound principles,

and his death was considered a public calamity, as thereby a good and useful citizen was lost to the community where he had made his home. His wife, a most estimable and very capable lady, came to Nebraska in 1874, and died in her new home in Panama in 1885, at the age of sixty-three years, leaving four children-William R., David A., Jo- seph Wilson and Mariam A.

William Stocking was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Sept. 4, 1844, on his father's homestead, and he was there reared to the life of a farmer. He was but nine years of age when his father died, and he continued in the old home with his mother until he was twenty or twenty-one years old, in the mean - time obtaining a good education at a select school. He then removed to Illinois with his family, and settled in Ogle County, where he rented a farm for fourteen or fifteen years, and engaged in agriculture with much success. March 28, 1872, he was mar- ried there to Miss Elizabeth, danghter of Albinus and Mehitable (Vincent) Lilly, of English and Welsh ancestry, respectively, but both natives of Franklin County, Mass. Her father owned and managed a farm there, while at the same time actively engaged at his trade of carpenter. In 1828 he and his wife migrated from their pleasant New England home with their family to Ohio. Mr. Lilly purchased a farm in Cuyahoga County, and was prospering very well when his premature death was occasioned by drowning in 1839. Ilis widow was thus left to care for nine children, and nobly did she perform her part, carefully edneating them and training them to become useful members of society. The names of her children are as fol- lows: Acsah, Albinus, Ililkiah, Jessie, Lewis, Ma- tilda, David, Rosina and Elizabeth. The latter, the wife of our subject, was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Jan. 18, 1838, and was fourteen months old when her father died, therefore she has no recol- lection of him. At seventeen she entered Baldwin University, remaining a student there for some time, and gaining a superior education by her studi- ousness and love of books. In 1870 she went to Illinois, and in Ogle County obtained a situation to work, having bravely resolved to become self-sup- porting, and there she was married to our subject, with whom she had attended the same school and

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church in her native State. Two children have been born to their union-Vera Z. and Layton R.

Mr. Stocking remained in Illinois seven years after marriage, and then in 1879 came with his family to Nebraska, allured hither by the almost certain prospeet of becoming more than successful in his chosen calling on this rich and. fertile soil. He purchased his present farm on section 28, Ne- maha, and in the few years that he has been here he has already put everything into good shape, and has one of the best managed farms in the neigh- borhood. He has built and tastily fitted up a two- story frame house of modern design, has built a fine barn and fences, a commodious corn erib, and has a fine orchard of sixty-four trees. In all the rela- tions of life our subject has proved himself to be an upright, noble-minded man. As a son, he was dutiful and affectionate; as a husband, he is thought- fuland devoted, and as a father, he is firm, but kind. He is exceedingly temperate, and his habits are above reproach. He is an earnest supporter of the Prohibition movement in politics.

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Portrait and biographical album of Lancaster county, Nebraska, Part 78

Author: Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman brothers Number of Pages: 812

Author:
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman brothers
Number of Pages: 812